welcome to an "america tonight" special report. i'm joie chen. we go on the front lines with the taliban as the insurgent group forces its way back in to headlines with a tax on weste western westerners, and signals the fight over afghans future isn't over yet. ♪ al jazeera's "faultlines"

documentary comes at a critical moment in afghanistan's future before an election that could lead to the country's first peaceful transition of power or not. strong signals suggest that peaceful might be unattainable. a stunning reminder of the taliban's ability to wreak havoc in the afghan capitol. four gunmen attack a hotel popular with westerners. >> they carried pistols and were able to hide the pistols in their socks. we got information right away, and sent our police commander forces that there was an operation going on. >> attackers went to the restaurant and starting shooting

before moving through the rest of the hotel. one journalist was shot dead along with his wife and two young children. the four attackers were also killed. afghan authorities say they appeared to be about 18 years old. the taliban spokesmen claimed responsible for the attacks, saying . . . the horrific assault comes as afghanistan prepares for presidential elections the taliban has vowed to disrupt. in a rare look inside the taliban, al jazeera "faultlines" document try unit traveled with afghanistan fighters including a 23-year-old man.

>> as u.s. forces prepare to pull out and with the elections looming, he and other taliban fighters are determined to step up their campaign of violence, take aim at foreign and government forces across the country, and as the assault shows in the heart of the capitol itself. earlier in this hour we saw the rare inside look at the insurgent fighters in the documentary produced on the front lines of the taliban. in the weeks leading up to the election, we saw in a sense a resurgent taliban making very brazen attacks against westerners in places that should have been safe. signify? >> they are trying to spread fear. they are trying to warn people, tell them that they are watching them, and that they can strike everywhere they want and when they want.

there are a lot of westerners, and possibly also a lot of people who were supposed to observe the elections at the hotel. so it's in general to scare the afghans. making them stay away from the elections and also scaring the westerners. >> not only scaring the westerners inside the country but outside as well. some of these were journalists as well. and they were trying to also country? >> yeah, they were. they also want to tell people that they are not happy about the elections. they don't see the elections as eligible, and they won't accept, you know, the process at all, and of course not who wins the election >> we want to continue our discussion and broaden it out a little bit. we widen our look at the taliban and afghanistan today.

joining us in the studio is retired marine general, and a aalist based in afghanistan himself. we appreciate both of you being with us. colonel i want to ask you about this, we have seen in this reporting and other reporting as well about what is the taliban today and what they are capable of. we saw this attack really striking in the heart of kaboul where westerners felt secure. >> the taliban are a large organization, really an umbrella organization, and the group that he was involved in, sounded to me what i guess i would call sort of main force taliban type unit. i don't think your -- you're

sort of -- regular foot soldier type unit. they don't sound to me to have really thought their attack through as completely as they might have. you may disagree with me, but this thing at the hotel looks a little bit more like something that the hakni network would put together. these guys are pros. they think through their attacks. they think through what they are going to do and so forth, and i -- my -- my sensing is we may find out in the long run that this is that type of depreciation. professional. >> all right. and if we can talk to you for a moment about what you see as the colonel mentioned, there's sort of an umbrella of organizations all of which have different reasons, i supposed to want to see this period disrupted. >> that's right. there are a number of different

groups and in fact there is a lot of reason that this may not be the main stream taliban that carried out this attack. there are other factions. there are other extremist groups which have been conducting attacks in kaboul. >> there are a lot of elements to cover. we'll take a break in our conversation and continue. we have a lot of ground to cover here. ♪ as we continue our special focus on the frokt lines with the taliban, a look at how the ensurgent force became america's number one enemy after september 11th. google and the world brain >> it would be the worlds greatest library, under one digital roof. but at what cost? >> google could hold the whole word hostage... google and the world brain only on aljazeera ameria

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the stream is uniquely interactive television. in fact, we depend on you, your ideas, your concerns. >> all these folks are making a whole lot of money. >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> i think you've offended everyone with that kathy. >> hold on, there's some room to offend people, i'm here. >> we have a right to know what's in our food and monsanto do not have the right to hide it from us. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> watch the stream. >> and join the conversation online @ajamstream. the history of the taliban is rooted in politics, the result of determined factions vying for the attention and support of the afghan people. the taliban's path has been challenging and strongly challenged ever since it came on the scene two decades ago. for better understanding of the taliban then and now, here is sheila macvicar.

[ gunfire ] >> retreat! >> reporter: taliban. for nearly 13 years u.s. and nato soldiers have done battle with them with deadly consequences. a war that began in 2001 after osama bin laden and al-qaeda launched their attack on the united states. >> this is a different type of enemy than we're used to. their network is extensive. >> reporter: to understand the fundamentalists taliban it is important to look at what was happening before the taliban began. muslim war lords armed by the west, including the u.s. who fought against the soviet union in 1979. ten years later the soviets withdrew leaving a weak

government in place. the war lords and the government were corrupt and violent, the rule-bound taliban seemed to offer a safer option to many afghans. >> what afghans will say, the taliban were, you know, not great people but they provided safety. our women weren't being kidnapped our boys weren't being kidnapped and held for ransom and extortion, but there was a basic safety. >> reporter: professor christine fair returned from the capitol of kabul earlier this week. she travels often to he region. >> they began to consolidate their position thanks to bags of money from the pakistanis. >> reporter: by 1986 the taliban controlled the area. >> one has to take into account

the fact that the taliban have had sang tu wares inside pakistan. they have been able to engage in training and recruitment. >> reporter: also in '96 bin laden moved his base to afghanistan. the u.s. launched missiles at bin laden's bases afghanistan. >> reporter: that's when omar did a reconsideration, and thought that if the americans want to kill him that badly, there must be something worse protecting this guy. >> reporter: consolidating their power, the taliban enforced their strict interpretation of islamic law. music was banned. the renowned budas were destroyed. women were told to cover

themselves completely. there were mass arrests and executions. after the 9-11 attacks the u.s. capable of taking over the country, but i don't think the government is capable of eliminating them. >> i would like you to talk for a minute about the composition of the taliban. as we noted these folks are young. younger actually than the taliban itself, quite young people with a very different mind set. >> that's right. we're talking about 20 and 25 year old commanders. in some cases their only experience has been living in war. they have no memory of what life was like before russia invaded. so the things that motive them is very different from what motivated the original taliban.

and i think that's one reason why they have blended themselves to easily to criminality. >> it sounds like everybody has reason to be in it for themselves. do you have any optimism that anybody is thinking about the future and trying to create a more peaceful existence going forward? >> i don't think so. there really is no future in afghanistan, because as the previous speaker said, the taliban are entrenched in the countryside, the government is entrenched in the cities. and we're going to have a war of attrition basically in perpetuity, so that doesn't lead itself to a future of hope. >> you nod to this, it is an awfully frightening consideration that after all of these years what we will return to is an afghan of war lords.

>> yeah, actually history has repeated it's a in a lot of the the -- rural areas, and that's why you see the civilians supporting the taliban. because it's simply a choice between a rock and a hot place. and the war lords that the western forces allied themselves with, have been the alternative to the taliban. and that's why they have grained ground in so many places. >> and we see an awful lot of bad choices for the afghan people. we appreciate you all joining us. of you. ♪ after the break, images of afghanistan decades of conflict, as seen through the lens of the rare westerer in who witnessed

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♪ azeera ameri. as we end this hour's special focus on afghanistan and the taliban, a reminder that this is a country and a people that have known conflict for a very long. many were not even born when an american journalist arrived to afghanistan. >> when i got to afghanistan in 1988, the soviet army had already killed a million people. that's a lot of violence to throw down on people in less than ten years. the

new delhi bureau for time magazine became open in 1987. it has all of the things that a journalist would want in their territory. a civil war had started in sri lanka, afghanistan had the soviet army, and the cashmerian insurgency was about to kick off. it's the news value of a region like that. in the early days the fighters, civilians, took a liking to the camera. their only exposure had been through government-controlled media. the government radio and television station. they rarely would meet people. there was a strict government party line. it was well scripted and people tended not to believe it. they didn't understand the cycle

of taking a picture and seeing it printed. this person shot in 1990 is still alive today, and he is known as the don core leon of afghanistan, he is essentially the first person to start looking for funding for global jihad outside of afghanistan. he was also the recipient of a great amount of money from the cia, and he also befriended osama bin laden. this picture shows the government communist party newspaper being sold on the street by a newspaper hawker, most likely -- well, of course, a very industrious boy, but there is a good chance he is not literate. and you can see the person

behind him who bought the paper is also reading the paper out loud to people. i didn't have a problem with the camera until the taliban came in. they said pictures of human beings were not permitted in particular women. every trip had its unexpected moments. that's the nature of the region, the country, the story. there's -- it's a country without law. the people right now are very hopeful. they have reached a certain amount of employment, economic, social improvement, schools have opened, but at the same time corruption is rife, crime is up, kidnapping still goes on at a low level. there's no real solid security. >> photographer robert nickelsberg with the long view.

and you can get the incredible journey in afghanistan as it continues next week with rare access of what it is like to live in taliban country. >> broken families and a rising death toll, living in the war zone, life in afghanistan. future of afghans as the taliban rea assert their control. you are see all of the documentary next friday at 9:00 eastern, followed by another special edition of "america tonight." that's it for us here on "america tonight." if you would like to comment on anything you have seen, log on to our website, >> i'm actually quite nervous... >> as u.s. forces prepare to

leave afghanistan, fault lines brings you an eye opening look at what life is really like under the taliban. from girls attending school, to enforcing sharia law. >> they rely on the local population, and so they need to win the hearts and minds of locals to be able to fight. >> then immediately after, an american tonight special edition, >> explain how you were able to get access to the taliban. >> fault lines: this is taliban country then, an american tonight special edition only on al jazeera america ... this is al jazeera america. i am jonathan betz live in new york. millions of afghans defy the

taliban. an encouraging turnout for todd's presidential e elections. a chinese ship hears picks. could they be from the missing malaysian jet liner's black boxes. authorities shared new insight on what might have sparked the rampage at 40 hood. >> 40 years since the genocide in rwanda. some accusing french soldiers of a role in the massacre.